Welt tempering device for shoe sewing machines



Jan. 1G, 1933. J, E, THAYER ,893,789

WELT TEMPERING DEVICE FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed June 4.A 1929 Patented Jan. 10, 1933 trios JOSEPH E. THAYER, OF WEST BRIDGEWATEIR, MASSACHUSETTS, .ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY WELT TEMPERING DEVICE FOR SHOE S"J3lVi/ING` MACHINES Application filed June 4,

c The present invention has relation to welt moistening and tempering. devices for p reparing welting for the stitching operation which unites it to the upper and insole of a shoe.

In the manufacture of welt shoes, it has been found that the rbest results are secured through the use of welting which has been moistened and tempered locally in the vicinity of the groove which receives the seam. Velting which has been tempered in the usual manner followed hitherto of soaking it throughout its whole area in the tempering medium, dries out hard and tends to shrink and curl, resisting subsequent tempering and making it diiiicult to attach the outsole in satisfactory manner. Further, wet welting brought in contact with the surface of the upper tends to discolor and sta-in such` surface, particularly when the upper is of light colored delicate leather. 1t has been found that the best results are secured when the tempering liquid is applied in the least possible quanti-ty t-o merely the surface of the welt in and adjacent to the groove formed therein for the reception of the seam.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a novel and improved welt tempering device of the type which delivers the tempering liquid into the groove of the welt as the welt is fed to a welt sewing machine, and is herein disclosed as embodied in a construction comprising a nozzle discharging tempering liquid into the groove of the welt and disposed so that any excess liquid not promptly absorbed by the welt will gravitate away from the lshoe rather than run down the groove and be brought into contact with the shoe-upper. This nozzle is also removed by'a sufficient distance from the stitching point, having respect to the rate of feed of the shoe and consequently of the welt, so that the liquid will have an ample length of time to permeate the welt and eect the desired tempering or softening action thereof before arrival at the stitching point. To prevent excessive moistening of the welt through the resting of a given point in its length be- -neaththe nozzle while the sewing operation is suspended, there is provided a valve which is operatively combined with the treadle of the sewing machine so as to permit and to check the flow of tempering liquid through the nozzle accordingly as the sewing machine is started or brought to rest. To permit welts of different widths'to be positioned accurately beneath the nozzle so that the flow of liquid therefrom is directed with precision into the groove, guiding means is combined with the nozzle in the form of rolls carrying the welt into proximity with the nozzle and each equipped with flanges which may be brought into the proper spaced relation, by relative axial movement of the rolls, to guide the edges of the welt and thus to cause the groove to pass exactly under the nozzle as the Welt is drawn forward. To regulate the rate of delivery of tempering liquid to suit the character of the particular welt being tempered, a manually-operable regulating valve is provided in connection with the nozzle to determine the rate of How therethrough.

rThe several features of the invention consist of certain constructions, arrangements, and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be obvious to one skilled in the art from the following description.

1n the drawing illustrating the invention in the best form at present known to the inventor, l? ig. 1 is a front view of a portion of a welt shoe sewing machine showing certain of the stitch forming and work feeding devices and the welt measuring roll, with the devices of the invention appliedV thereto; and Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 o'f Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow, the delivery nozzle being shown in section.

For the purpose of understanding the application o'f the present invention, there are shown in Fig. 1 portions of a welt shoe sewing machine substantially the same as that shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,189,437, granted July 4, 1916, to Andrew Eppler, for welt sewing machine, to which patent reference may be had for a full and complete description of the construction and operation of such machine insofar as not covered hereinafter. At 6 is indicated a portion of the supporting column of the machine, upon the upper end of which is mounted the yoke 8 having affixed to its opposite extremities by the bolts 10 the cam shaft supporting brackets 12. The stitch forming mechanism is indicated in part and includes the awl 14, looper 16, welt-guide 18, channel guide 19, and thread finger 20. At 22 is indicated the flanged head of the bushing upon which rotates the welt measuring roll 24, and at 26 the cooperating clamp carried by the bell crank 28 mounted in connection with the flange 22. The welt 30 passes over the roll 24 on its way to the welt-guide 18 which positions it in proper relation with respect to the upper of the shoe to which it is being stitched, the work being positioned during the stitching operation by contact of the upper with the back rest 32.

In accordance with the invention, an arm 84 is applied to the head of the cam shaft bracket bolt 10 at the right-hand side of the machine by means of a smaller bolt 36. This arm extends downwardly and outwardly and has applied to the vertical face of its extremity a plate 87 through which extends the threaded end of a flanged valve-body 88, a lock nut 40 being applied to the rearward end of such threaded portion. A nozzle 42 extends radially downward from the valvebody, and the internal bore of the valve-body is threaded at its end remote. from the plate 37 to receive a needle valve 44 which seats at 46 within the bore to regulate the flow through nozzle 42 of tempering liquid delivered into the bore of the valve-body 88 through a tube 48 connected with the threaded extremity thereof'. The needle valve 44 has a knurled head 50 for convenient manipulation, and is provided with a spring 52 surrounding its shank and confined between said head and a recess in the adjacent end et the valve-body, to maintain the adjustment of the spaced relation of the needle valve with respect to its seat 46 determining the rate of' flow of the tempering liquid downwardly through the nozzle 42. his rate of flow is adjusted to effect the amount of wetting required by the character of the welt.

The guiding means to position the groove of the welt directly beneath the extremity of the nozzle 42 comprise a roll 54 rotatably mounted upon a bolt 56 which `'s threaded through both the arm 34 and the plate 37 and secured by a lock nut 58, and a second roll 60 which is rotatably' mounted upon the shank of a flanged stud 62 which has its extremity 64 threaded through beth the arm 34 and the plate 37 and secured against rotation by a lock nut 66. The roll 60 is confined against axial movement with respect to its stud 62 by the flange 68 which enters an appropriate recess in one end of said roll, and also by a thimble 70 which is attached to the reduced end of stud 62, after the roll has been placed on the stud7 by a pin 72 put through both the thimble and the end ofthe stud with sufficient of its length extending radially to afford facility in rotating the stud by hand. The rolls 54 and 60 each have a flange 74, 76, located in reversed relation, at respectively opposite ends of the rolls and in spaced rela-l tion to receive the width of a welt between them and guide the edges thereof as the welt is run between the cylindrical surfaces of suoli rolls. ,Each flange extends into close proximity with the cylindrical surface of. the opposite roll. Adjustment of the spaced relation between the two flanges, to accommodate welting of various widths, is effected by manually turning the stud 62 with the help of the pin 72, to screw it into or out from the arm 34 and plate 37, the lock nut 66 beingr tightened after the proper amount of axial adjustment of the roll 60 has been attained to maintain the rolls in the desired relation. A pin 78 fixed within the lock nut 66 facilitates its manipulation.

The guide rolls`54, 60 have their axes disposed in parallel relation in a plane obliquely arranged with respect to the lead of the welt as it enters between them, so that the welt passes between them on a slant, that is, it comes in contact with the cylindrical surfaces of the respccive rolls at points respectively above and below the plane joining their axes. This arrangement puts a reverse bend into the weltwhich assures firm guiding Contact of the rolls with the welt without the necessity for adjusting the spacing of the rolls to fit accurately the thickness of varying grades of welting. After the adjustment of roll 60 to fit the width of the welt, the nozzle is positioned in exact alignment with, and if desired may be swung into contact with, the groove 80 in such welt by screwing the valve-body 38 into or out from its plate 37, the adjustment being secured by tightening the lock nut 40. Thus, the wet-ting may be contined accurately to the groove alone.

The tempering liquid is brought to the delivery nozzle 42 through the tube 48, which is connected to a valve fed from a source of supply 82 and operably connected with the control means for starting and stopping the sewing operation. This valve comprises a body 84 vhaving a bracket 86 which is attached by a boltI 88 to the head of the bolt 10 securing the left-hand cam shaft bracket 12 to the yoke 8. This Valve is of typical construction, having an internal chamber 90 to which temperingI liquid is admitted through a tube 92 from the source of supply 82, and an outlet 94 connected to said chamber by an axial passage, the tube 48 leading to the nozzle being coupled to such outlet. Within the chamber 90 is a valve member 96 seating against an annular shoulder and pressed tl ercagainst by an expanding spring 98 confined between said valve member and a recessed plug 100 threaded into the end of such chamber. A stem 102 in connection with the valve member 96 extends through the axial passage and after passing through a packing gland and packing nut 104 extends out from the valve body to be engaged by one end of a lever 106 pivoted at 108 in lugs depending from the bracket 86. This valve-operating lever 106 is attached to the link 110 which connects the usual starting treadle (not shown) at the base of the column 6 with the usual clutch and brake means (not shown) which start and stop the sewing machine. This attachment is accomplished by means of a contracting spring 112 having one end engaged with the lever 106, and the other with the head of the clamping screw 114 of a clamp 116 aflixed to the link 110, the parts being adjusted so that the valve-member 96 will be lifted oi'f its seat just as the clutch begins to take hold and drive the sewing machine slowly. Thereafter, so long as the treadle is in position to continue the sewing operation and the accompanying feeding ofthe work which pulls the welt past the nozzle 42, the tempering liquid is allowed to iow from the nozzle into the welt groove. When the treadle is positioned to stop the sewing operation, the valve-member 96 closes upon its seat and the flow from the nozzle is suspended, to prevent excessive wetting of the welt while it is at rest.

The welt-wetting action is so arranged with respect to the subsequent course of the welt in travelling thence to the stitching point that the tempering liquid delivered into the groove will not be able to gravitate along the welt into contact with the shoe upper. This results from locating' the welt-wetting point so that the welt has an upward lead after leaving the wetting devices. To make this arrangement most effective, the welt is led upwardly from such devices on a slant to a guide-eye 118 near the fixed end of the arm 34, so that it may travel vertically upward in arriving at the welt-measuring roll 24, and also the wetting devices are located below the level of the stitching point.

The welt-wetting action is so arranged with respect to the rate of feed of the welt as drawn forward by the feeding of the shoe during the stitching, that ample time is allowed the tempering liquid to soak in and be completely absorbed by the welt before any given point in the welt thus moistened reaches the stitching point. This is effected by locating the welt-wetting point a considerable distance away from the stitching point in actual measurement by putting the wetting nozzle i2 at the end of a long arm, and also by carrying the welt around a devious cours-e in between these two points, as by changing its lead around guide-eye 118 and measuring roll 24. This arrangement provides against free tempering liquid remaining unabsorbed on the exterior of the welt to contact with the upper, and, as a corollary, effects the desired softening and tempering of the welt prior to the latters arrival at the stitching point.

What is claimed as the invention is 1. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism, work-feeding devices, a pair of welt-guiding rolls spaced apart by a distance greater than the thickness of the welt and with the plane of their axes obliquely disposed to the lead of the welt entering between the rolls, a flange on one roll to engage one edge of the welt, a flange on the other roll to engage the other edge of the welt, and a nozzle discharging tempering liquid into the groove of the welt as it passes through the rolls.

2. A welt shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch-forming mechanism, work-feeding devices, a pair of welt-guiding rolls, a flange on one roll to guide one edge of the welt, a flange on the other roll to guide the other edge of the welt means for effecting relative axial adjustment of the rolls to accommodate welts of different widths between the flanges, and a nozzle positioned to discharge tempering liquid into the groove of the welt as located by the flanges.

3. A welt tempering device for welt shoe sewing machines having, in combination, a nozzle for delivering tempering liquid into the groove of the welt, and means for positioning the welt to align the nozzle and the groove of the welt comprising a pair of flanged rolls engagingrespectively opposite faces and guiding respectively opposite edges of the Welt.

4:. A welt tempering device for welt shoe sewing machines having, in combination, a pair of fianged rolls engaging respectively opposite faces and guiding respectively opposite edges of the welt, a nozzle adapted to deliver tempering liquid to moisten the groove of the welt, and means providing for relative axial adjustment of the rolls to receive different widths of welt between their flanges.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOSEPH E. THAYER. 

